Model replicas of aircraft, ships and other vehicles are well known. The first of these models were carved out of wood. In addition to wood, other materials such as plastic and fiberglass have been used to manufacture models.
In building models, authenticity has always been important. For this reason, plastic was used since it could be shaped to form an exact replica of a particular vehicle or part. Over time, in addition to authenticity, model aficionados began to demand models with movable parts. This demand for movable parts created the need to develop workable assemblies of various model components such as doors, windows and wheel assemblies. In developing these components, it became necessary to use various tools such as needle-nose pliers or a screwdriver to assemble the miniature components. This need for tools increased the complexity of model building.
In addition to making models with movable parts, hobbyists have advanced to the stage where they want models to perform some of the same functions as their full-scale counterparts. This has led to the development of radio-controlled models of aircraft that fly, boats that sail and automobiles that drive. While functioning models have increased the popularity of the hobby, they have some drawbacks in that certain parts and assemblies must perform relatively heavy-duty functions in order to operate the model. This has resulted in the need to make these parts and assemblies easy to install and replace, preferably without the need for any tools.
One such assembly that is required to perform a rather heavy-duty function is a landing gear assembly for a model aircraft. Because of the shock imparted to the assembly, not only on take-off and landing, but also through taxiing on a prepared or unprepared surface, a landing gear assembly must be securely attached to the model. The ability to attach such an assembly to a model without the use of tools, messy glues or connectors, such as screws or washers that may loosen and fall off or mar the finish of the model, would be an important improvement in the art.